The Ozark Heritage Festival, now in its 32nd year, will celebrate Missouri culture Friday and Saturday, October 16 & 17. The annual event in downtown West Plains, MO, celebrates Ozarks music and culture. Admission to all festival events is free. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, with music scheduled to begin at noon.
New this year: Yikes! The Springfield Zoo will present “Creepy Crawlies” at 10 am and 11 am, Friday morning. This show features ambassador animals from the education department. Participants will learn the niche each animal fills and species adaptation for survival that some people may find downright creepy! Each performance is 30 minutes in length, giving attendees an opportunity to visit other parts of the festival as well. These shows are sponsored by Travis Smith.
Also new this year, on Saturday at 3 PM, is the Chicken Chase sponsored by West Plains High School FFA. This is an event for children to enter where they will try to catch real chickens running loose.
Returning to the festival is a Quilt Show, sponsored by Gammill Sewing Center which features pieces made by a host of local quilters and quilting groups. The show will be in the Magnolia Room on the mezzanine for both Friday and Saturday.
Also returning is the Mule Jump Competition on Saturday. At 2 pm, Richie Dement will present a demonstration of this tradition. The contest begins at 5 pm. Mules will jump in 3 categories with cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. This distinctively Ozarks event is sponsored by Hirsch Farm and Feed.
On the grounds both days will be a horse driven mill making sorghum, Storytelling time by Tara Shahan, the Journey Stagecoach with crew, Missouri Department of Conservation education exhibit and a bucket brigade by the Howell County Rural Fire Department.
In addition, there will be live demonstrations by spinners, traditional artisans, blacksmiths, flint knappers making arrowheads, like a living museum.
2026 Festival partners include the West Plains Council on the Arts, the City of West Plains, the Ozark Heritage Welcome Center, West Plains Civic Center, and Missouri State University-West Plains. Partial funding for this event is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. Additional support has been provided by Missouri Humanities.
For more information on the festival e-mail info@westplainsarts.org, visit the website at https://ozarkheritagefestival.org ;or “like” the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Old.Time.Music.Festival
